Sunday, September 8
Lexington, KY
9 a.m. PT
UCLA
at
Kentucky
Avery Robinson
Photo by: Percy Anderson
UCLA Plays at Unbeaten Kentucky Sunday on ESPNU
September 06, 2024 | Women's Soccer
No. 9/6 UCLA (5-1-1) at Kentucky (6-0)
Date: Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024 – 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT
Location: Lexington, Ky. (Bell Soccer Complex)
Broadcast: ESPNU
Talent: Mike Watts, Jill Loyden
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com
BRUINS TRAVEL SOUTH TO FACE KENTUCKY
No. 9/6 UCLA (5-1-1) finishes up its Southern road trip on Sunday, Sept. 8 at Kentucky (6-0). The match will take place at Noon ET/9am PT and will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA recorded its sixth shutout in seven games, playing to a 0-0 tie at Tennessee. Graduate student Ryan Campbell was outstanding in goal, making a season-high six saves, including one last save in the final seconds. UCLA outshot the Volunteers, 16-7, and had an 11-4 shot advantage in the second half but had several outside shots miss just wide or had shots stopped by Tennessee goalkeeper Ally Zazzara, who finished with five saves.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Bruins dropped six spots to No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and three spots to No. 6 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll. With the Bruin men ranking sixth in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, UCLA joins Stanford as one of just two schools to have both teams ranked in the Top 10 nationally.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky enters Sunday's match with a perfect 6-0 record, a year after starting the season with a record 13-match unbeaten streak. The Wildcats defeated Murray State, 1-0, on Thursday night thanks to a 66th minute goal by freshman Anna Sikorski. Makala Woods leads Kentucky in scoring this season with three goals and six points. Goalkeeper Marz Josephson has a 0.18 goals against average.
UCLA leads the series with Kentucky, 2-0. Both victories came in the NCAA Second Round, in 2012 (5-0 in San Diego) and 2013 (3-0 in Los Angeles). In the 2013 contest, Bruin defender Caprice Dydasco, who now plays for Bay FC in the NWSL, scored two goals. On Kentucky's side, Arin Gilliland, now Arin Wright, recorded four shots. Wright now plays for Racing Louisville FC, who coincidentally plays Bay FC on Saturday.
SHUTOUT CITY
With six shutouts in seven games, UCLA and goalkeeper Ryan Campbell are among the nation's defensive leaders. Campbell leads the NCAA with six shutouts wand is ranked seventh in goals against average (0.143) and 10th in save percentage (0.941). The Bruin team ranks fourth in the nation in goals against average (0.143) and shutout percentage (0.857) and sixth in save percentage (0.941).
UCLA started the season with five consecutive shutouts, becoming just the second team in school history to accomplish the feat (the 2014 Bruins started out with six shutouts in a row). Campbell compiled 519 consecutive shutout minutes, just shy of Katelyn Rowland's single-season school record 638-minute shutout streak in 2014.
ROLLING IN THE DEEP
Twenty-three players on UCLA's roster have seen action this season, all playing in at least two games. Sixteen players have started in two or more games, but only five (Ryan Campbell, Lilly Reale, Meg Boade, Quincy McMahon and Nicki Fraser) have started in all seven. Jayden Perry and Jordan Geis have six starts, and Lily Boyden has five.
BRUINS EARN NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Five UCLA women's soccer players earned national preseason recognition ahead of the 2024 season. Senior defender Lilly Reale and graduate goalkeeper Ryan Campbell were selected to MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI first team and the NCAA Division I Women's Players to Watch List. They were joined on the NCAA Players to Watch list by senior defender Quincy McMahon and graduate midfielder Meg Boade. Defender Nicki Fraser was selected to the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Freshman Team. On the conference front, Reale, Boade and Emma Egizii were selected to the Big Ten Players to Watch List.
WELCOME BACK
UCLA returns seven starters from last season's conference championship team and seven all-conference players in Defensive Player of the Year Lilly Reale, Quincy McMahon, Sofia Cook, Ayo Oke, Jayden Perry, Sunshine Fontes and Lexi Wright. Additionally, Val Vargas earned all-freshman honors a year ago. Wright, however, is out for the year with a knee injury.
The Bruins' senior class has been prolific. Reale, McMahon, Perry, Wright and Emma Egizii entered together in 2021 and won a conference title in 2021, a NCAA title in 2022 and another conference title in 2023. They have combined for seven all-conference honors and have scored 102 points (32 goals and 38 assists) collectively while posting an overall record of 59-6-6. Reale is a two-time All-American and was the Honda Award winner in 2022, as well as the Most Outstanding Defensive Player at the 2022 College Cup.
Although not in that senior class, Fontes has also accomplished much in her time at UCLA. After redshirting the 2019 season with a torn ACL, she competed in the 2020 season and helped UCLA win the Pac-12 title, the first of three Fontes has been a part of (2020, 2021, 2023). She was the leading scorer for the 2022 NCAA champion Bruins with 11 goals and 30 points and enters the 2024 campaign with 21 career goals, 14 assists and 56 points.
IMPACT TRANSFERS
UCLA welcomed four experienced transfers to the squad in 2024, including a pair of graduate transfers in goalkeeper Ryan Campbell (Stanford) and midfielder Meg Boade (Northwestern) who were named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Players to Watch List. Campbell was the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year and a first-team All-Region selection after recording 11 solo and two combined shutouts in 2023. She also led the conference with a 0.601 goals against average. Boade broke Northwestern's single-season assists record in 2023 with 14 assists and ranked second in the nation in assists per game with a 0.78 average. She is a two-time All-North Region and All-Big Ten honoree. UCLA also brought in a pair of former conference foes in senior midfielder Alice Barbieri (Oregon) and junior forward Lily Boyden (Washington State). Barbieri played in 55 games with 36 starts over her first three seasons and has nine career points. Boyden was a Pac-12 All-Freshman selection in 2022 after playing in 18 of 19 games for the Cougars and totaling two goals and three assists. Boyden did not play in 2023 after suffering an injury in the spring.
All four transfers have seen significant minutes in the Bruins' first seven games. Campbell has recorded a nation-leading six shutouts in seven games and holds a Big Ten-best goals against average of 0.14. Boade has started all seven games, along with Campbell, and scored the game-winning goal against No. 16 BYU, along with an assist against UC Riverside. After coming off the bench in the Bruins' first two games, Boyden has started the last five contests, and Barbieri has started in four games.
NO. 2 RECRUITING CLASS
The Bruins boast Top Drawer Soccer's No. 2 recruiting class in the nation, led by six rookies ranked in the Top 50 in No. 12 Nicki Fraser, No. 15 Kamryn Winger, No. 19 Bella Winn, No. 39 Avery Robinson, No. 46 Kara Croone and No. 50 Paloma Daubert. Sammy Sanchez is also ranked at No. 64. Also joining the team are freshmen goalkeepers Layla Armas and Mariangela Medina and forward Jordan Geis. Five of the freshmen made their collegiate debuts in the season opener. Fraser, Winn and Geis earned starts, and Daubert and Sanchez logged double-digit minutes off the bench. Robinson made her debut against UC Riverside and recorded one shot and had a near-goal hit the crossbar at Cal Poly. Fraser is one of just five Bruins and the only underclassman to have started every game this season. Geis has played in all seven games and made six starts. She leads the team in shots with 14.
VIVA MEXICO
Three Bruins - junior forward America Frias, sophomore midfielder Val Vargas and freshman goalkeeper Mariangela Medina - have been out since the beginning of the season while competing for Mexico at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia. Mexico played two prep matches against Ghana and Nigeria before opening the tournament on Aug. 31 with a 2-2 tie against Cameroon. Vargas saw action in the second half of the game. Mexico beat Australia 2-0 on Sept. 3, with both Vargas and Frias playing in the second half.
Mexico will round out group play on Sept. 6 vs. Colombia. The Round of 16 begins on Sept. 11, with the quarterfinals taking place Sept. 15, the semifinals Sept. 18 and final on Sept. 22.
SISTER ACT
Sophomore forward Sophie Reale made her collegiate debut in the season opener after redshirting the 2023 campaign, playing 36 minutes and recording two shots, including one on goal. The game marked the first time Reale and her older sister Lilly have played together in their collegiate careers and the first time that two Bruin sisters have played in the same game since Anika and Karina Rodriguez played together in 2019. Both Reale sisters made the starting lineup for the first time in the Cal Poly match, with Lilly scoring the game-winning goal.
NEW WEAPON
Playing as an offensive player for the first time in her collegiate career is graduate student Maya Evans. A defender throughout her previous four years, Evans recently began playing as a forward and has started up top in the last four games. Evans has eight shots and one shot on goal.
NWSL BRUINS
A total of 20 UCLA women's soccer alumnae have been on NWSL rosters in 2024, including four from the 2023 squad. Reilyn Turner, a 99-point scorer for the Bruins and a 2023 All-American, was the No. 6 overall draft pick for Racing Louisville FC and is now playing with the Portland Thorns. Ally Lemos, who started every game of her two-year collegiate career and was a two-time all-region selection, was drafted by the Orlando Pride as the No. 9 overall pick. Ally Cook did not get drafted but earned a roster spot with the Chicago Red Stars. Cook ranked second on the team in scoring last season with nine goals and 19 points. Additionally, JaNae DeFazio was added to the Kansas City Current roster as a National Team replacement player in July and made her debut on July 28 at the Summer Cup against Pachuca.
ACADEMIC HONORS
For the 13th consecutive year, the UCLA women's soccer team has won a United Soccer Coaches College Team Academic Award, recognizing exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2023-24 academic year. The Bruins posted a team GPA of 3.25, their fifth consecutive year over 3.25. A total of 17 players were named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll in 2023. The Bruins had a record 18 honorees in 2022.
FOLLOW THE BRUINS
Follow UCLA Women's Soccer at @UCLAWSoccer on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok and /UCLAWSoccer on Facebook. The Bruins lead all collegiate soccer teams, men or women, in Instagram followers with 114k.
Date: Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024 – 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT
Location: Lexington, Ky. (Bell Soccer Complex)
Broadcast: ESPNU
Talent: Mike Watts, Jill Loyden
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com
BRUINS TRAVEL SOUTH TO FACE KENTUCKY
No. 9/6 UCLA (5-1-1) finishes up its Southern road trip on Sunday, Sept. 8 at Kentucky (6-0). The match will take place at Noon ET/9am PT and will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA recorded its sixth shutout in seven games, playing to a 0-0 tie at Tennessee. Graduate student Ryan Campbell was outstanding in goal, making a season-high six saves, including one last save in the final seconds. UCLA outshot the Volunteers, 16-7, and had an 11-4 shot advantage in the second half but had several outside shots miss just wide or had shots stopped by Tennessee goalkeeper Ally Zazzara, who finished with five saves.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Bruins dropped six spots to No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and three spots to No. 6 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll. With the Bruin men ranking sixth in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, UCLA joins Stanford as one of just two schools to have both teams ranked in the Top 10 nationally.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky enters Sunday's match with a perfect 6-0 record, a year after starting the season with a record 13-match unbeaten streak. The Wildcats defeated Murray State, 1-0, on Thursday night thanks to a 66th minute goal by freshman Anna Sikorski. Makala Woods leads Kentucky in scoring this season with three goals and six points. Goalkeeper Marz Josephson has a 0.18 goals against average.
UCLA leads the series with Kentucky, 2-0. Both victories came in the NCAA Second Round, in 2012 (5-0 in San Diego) and 2013 (3-0 in Los Angeles). In the 2013 contest, Bruin defender Caprice Dydasco, who now plays for Bay FC in the NWSL, scored two goals. On Kentucky's side, Arin Gilliland, now Arin Wright, recorded four shots. Wright now plays for Racing Louisville FC, who coincidentally plays Bay FC on Saturday.
SHUTOUT CITY
With six shutouts in seven games, UCLA and goalkeeper Ryan Campbell are among the nation's defensive leaders. Campbell leads the NCAA with six shutouts wand is ranked seventh in goals against average (0.143) and 10th in save percentage (0.941). The Bruin team ranks fourth in the nation in goals against average (0.143) and shutout percentage (0.857) and sixth in save percentage (0.941).
UCLA started the season with five consecutive shutouts, becoming just the second team in school history to accomplish the feat (the 2014 Bruins started out with six shutouts in a row). Campbell compiled 519 consecutive shutout minutes, just shy of Katelyn Rowland's single-season school record 638-minute shutout streak in 2014.
ROLLING IN THE DEEP
Twenty-three players on UCLA's roster have seen action this season, all playing in at least two games. Sixteen players have started in two or more games, but only five (Ryan Campbell, Lilly Reale, Meg Boade, Quincy McMahon and Nicki Fraser) have started in all seven. Jayden Perry and Jordan Geis have six starts, and Lily Boyden has five.
BRUINS EARN NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Five UCLA women's soccer players earned national preseason recognition ahead of the 2024 season. Senior defender Lilly Reale and graduate goalkeeper Ryan Campbell were selected to MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI first team and the NCAA Division I Women's Players to Watch List. They were joined on the NCAA Players to Watch list by senior defender Quincy McMahon and graduate midfielder Meg Boade. Defender Nicki Fraser was selected to the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Freshman Team. On the conference front, Reale, Boade and Emma Egizii were selected to the Big Ten Players to Watch List.
WELCOME BACK
UCLA returns seven starters from last season's conference championship team and seven all-conference players in Defensive Player of the Year Lilly Reale, Quincy McMahon, Sofia Cook, Ayo Oke, Jayden Perry, Sunshine Fontes and Lexi Wright. Additionally, Val Vargas earned all-freshman honors a year ago. Wright, however, is out for the year with a knee injury.
The Bruins' senior class has been prolific. Reale, McMahon, Perry, Wright and Emma Egizii entered together in 2021 and won a conference title in 2021, a NCAA title in 2022 and another conference title in 2023. They have combined for seven all-conference honors and have scored 102 points (32 goals and 38 assists) collectively while posting an overall record of 59-6-6. Reale is a two-time All-American and was the Honda Award winner in 2022, as well as the Most Outstanding Defensive Player at the 2022 College Cup.
Although not in that senior class, Fontes has also accomplished much in her time at UCLA. After redshirting the 2019 season with a torn ACL, she competed in the 2020 season and helped UCLA win the Pac-12 title, the first of three Fontes has been a part of (2020, 2021, 2023). She was the leading scorer for the 2022 NCAA champion Bruins with 11 goals and 30 points and enters the 2024 campaign with 21 career goals, 14 assists and 56 points.
IMPACT TRANSFERS
UCLA welcomed four experienced transfers to the squad in 2024, including a pair of graduate transfers in goalkeeper Ryan Campbell (Stanford) and midfielder Meg Boade (Northwestern) who were named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Players to Watch List. Campbell was the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year and a first-team All-Region selection after recording 11 solo and two combined shutouts in 2023. She also led the conference with a 0.601 goals against average. Boade broke Northwestern's single-season assists record in 2023 with 14 assists and ranked second in the nation in assists per game with a 0.78 average. She is a two-time All-North Region and All-Big Ten honoree. UCLA also brought in a pair of former conference foes in senior midfielder Alice Barbieri (Oregon) and junior forward Lily Boyden (Washington State). Barbieri played in 55 games with 36 starts over her first three seasons and has nine career points. Boyden was a Pac-12 All-Freshman selection in 2022 after playing in 18 of 19 games for the Cougars and totaling two goals and three assists. Boyden did not play in 2023 after suffering an injury in the spring.
All four transfers have seen significant minutes in the Bruins' first seven games. Campbell has recorded a nation-leading six shutouts in seven games and holds a Big Ten-best goals against average of 0.14. Boade has started all seven games, along with Campbell, and scored the game-winning goal against No. 16 BYU, along with an assist against UC Riverside. After coming off the bench in the Bruins' first two games, Boyden has started the last five contests, and Barbieri has started in four games.
NO. 2 RECRUITING CLASS
The Bruins boast Top Drawer Soccer's No. 2 recruiting class in the nation, led by six rookies ranked in the Top 50 in No. 12 Nicki Fraser, No. 15 Kamryn Winger, No. 19 Bella Winn, No. 39 Avery Robinson, No. 46 Kara Croone and No. 50 Paloma Daubert. Sammy Sanchez is also ranked at No. 64. Also joining the team are freshmen goalkeepers Layla Armas and Mariangela Medina and forward Jordan Geis. Five of the freshmen made their collegiate debuts in the season opener. Fraser, Winn and Geis earned starts, and Daubert and Sanchez logged double-digit minutes off the bench. Robinson made her debut against UC Riverside and recorded one shot and had a near-goal hit the crossbar at Cal Poly. Fraser is one of just five Bruins and the only underclassman to have started every game this season. Geis has played in all seven games and made six starts. She leads the team in shots with 14.
VIVA MEXICO
Three Bruins - junior forward America Frias, sophomore midfielder Val Vargas and freshman goalkeeper Mariangela Medina - have been out since the beginning of the season while competing for Mexico at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia. Mexico played two prep matches against Ghana and Nigeria before opening the tournament on Aug. 31 with a 2-2 tie against Cameroon. Vargas saw action in the second half of the game. Mexico beat Australia 2-0 on Sept. 3, with both Vargas and Frias playing in the second half.
Mexico will round out group play on Sept. 6 vs. Colombia. The Round of 16 begins on Sept. 11, with the quarterfinals taking place Sept. 15, the semifinals Sept. 18 and final on Sept. 22.
SISTER ACT
Sophomore forward Sophie Reale made her collegiate debut in the season opener after redshirting the 2023 campaign, playing 36 minutes and recording two shots, including one on goal. The game marked the first time Reale and her older sister Lilly have played together in their collegiate careers and the first time that two Bruin sisters have played in the same game since Anika and Karina Rodriguez played together in 2019. Both Reale sisters made the starting lineup for the first time in the Cal Poly match, with Lilly scoring the game-winning goal.
NEW WEAPON
Playing as an offensive player for the first time in her collegiate career is graduate student Maya Evans. A defender throughout her previous four years, Evans recently began playing as a forward and has started up top in the last four games. Evans has eight shots and one shot on goal.
NWSL BRUINS
A total of 20 UCLA women's soccer alumnae have been on NWSL rosters in 2024, including four from the 2023 squad. Reilyn Turner, a 99-point scorer for the Bruins and a 2023 All-American, was the No. 6 overall draft pick for Racing Louisville FC and is now playing with the Portland Thorns. Ally Lemos, who started every game of her two-year collegiate career and was a two-time all-region selection, was drafted by the Orlando Pride as the No. 9 overall pick. Ally Cook did not get drafted but earned a roster spot with the Chicago Red Stars. Cook ranked second on the team in scoring last season with nine goals and 19 points. Additionally, JaNae DeFazio was added to the Kansas City Current roster as a National Team replacement player in July and made her debut on July 28 at the Summer Cup against Pachuca.
ACADEMIC HONORS
For the 13th consecutive year, the UCLA women's soccer team has won a United Soccer Coaches College Team Academic Award, recognizing exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2023-24 academic year. The Bruins posted a team GPA of 3.25, their fifth consecutive year over 3.25. A total of 17 players were named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll in 2023. The Bruins had a record 18 honorees in 2022.
FOLLOW THE BRUINS
Follow UCLA Women's Soccer at @UCLAWSoccer on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok and /UCLAWSoccer on Facebook. The Bruins lead all collegiate soccer teams, men or women, in Instagram followers with 114k.
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
F/D/MF
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
D/F
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's SoccerHighlights - UCLA W. Soccer vs. Pepperdine (Nov. 15, 2025)
Sunday, November 16
Highlights - UCLA W. Soccer vs. Penn State (Nov. 1, 2025)
Saturday, November 01
Highlights - UCLA W. Soccer vs. Nebraska (Oct. 19, 2025)
Sunday, October 19
Highlights - UCLA W. Soccer vs. Iowa (Oct. 16, 2025)
Friday, October 17